1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a dishwasher rack, and more particularly to such a rack provided with upstanding front, rear and side walls and a bottom. Novel removable fences are mounted within the rack, extending from front to rear thereof in parallel spaced relationship.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The rack structure of the present invention may serve as either the upper or lower rack of a top loading or front loading dishwasher. For purposes of an exemplary showing, the rack is illustrated in its form as the upper rack of a front loading dishwasher.
Heretofore, the upper rack of a front loading dishwasher has comprised a plurality of wires welded together to form a generally rectangular, openwork rack. It has been common in the art to coat the wires with a protective plastic to prevent rust and corrosion. In general, such racks have been characterized by front, rear and side walls together with a bottom. In its most usual form, the bottom of the typical prior art rack has an upwardly extending central portion and downwardly and outwardly sloping side portions so that the rack is characterized by a relatively shallow central portion from front to rear and trough-like portions along its longitudinal sides. Part of the reason for this lay in the fact that the bottom served as a primary support element for the tableware within the rack.
From the beginning, it was realized that additional support for the tableware in the form of members extending upwardly from the rack bottom was required to maintain the tableware properly oriented during the washing and rinsing cycles. Initially, fixed upstanding members were provided, substantially throughout the rack. This was not altogether satisfactory, however, because it required the arrangement of tableware in a substantially fixed and predetermined manner and limited the type, size and number of tableware items which could be accommodated within the rack.
In order to overcome this problem, prior art workers devised a number of different expedients. One solution was to provide a plurality of individual upstanding members which could be inserted and removed from the rack and which could be located in various arrangements. U.S. Pat. No. 3,451,556 and 3,451,557 are exemplary of such arrangements. While offering versatility to the rack structure, the problem has been that these racks are made up of a large number of individual parts which must be stored by the housewife when not in use and which must be individually arranged, depending upon the size, number and nature of the tableware elements to be washed.
Another solution to the problem entailed the use of shiftable fence-like structures running from front to rear of the rack. These fence structures were generally pivotally mounted and were capable of assuming various positions ranging from a collapsed position to an upright position. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,126,098 and 3,269,548 are exemplary of such hinged fences.
The hinging of the fences and the provision of various types of latch means rendered such rack structures difficult and expensive to manufacture. Furthermore, when in their collapsed position, the fences tended to obstruct the bottom of the rack and to interfere with the proper flow of wash and rinse water through the rack.
The present invention provides a dishwasher rack with a more nearly flat bottom which is simpler and less expensive to manufacture and provides a deeper rack of better appearance and greater versatility. Furthermore, the more nearly flat bottom of the rack structure provides more room for a spray device located between the upper and lower racks.
The rack of the present invention has at least two removable fences running longitudinally of the rack (i.e. from the front to the rear of the rack). When in position, the removable fences offer support for various types of tableware. When it is desired to place oversize or unusually shaped tableware in the rack, one or more of these fences may be removed so that a portion of or the entire interior of the rack is unobstructed. The removed fences can be stored in various positions within the rack, or removed completely from the rack and in either instance, proper flow of wash and rinse water through the rack is assured.
The bottom of the rack of the present invention is so configured so as to cooperate with the rack side walls and at least some of the removable fences to provide novel drinking glass support by which the inverted glasses are tilted to assure proper drainage of their bottoms. Furthermore, the fences cooperate to maintain dishes up off the bottom of the rack so that their lowermost edges will not protrude below the rack, as is common with many prior art structures.